In the News

Imagine that every member of Congress represents the industry or special interests that have contributed the most to his or her campaign coffers. Which industries and special interests, then, lost or won seats in Congress during the 2010 midterm election?

As enthusiasm among conservatives surges, embattled Democrats may be placing their faith in the old Washington maxim that money delivers success on Election Day. That’s because heading into the final weeks of the campaign season, Democrats — not Republicans — maintained a financial edge in the most competitive House races across the country, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis indicates.

The top beneficiaries of the generosity from party leaders and other politicians who donate with their leadership PACs and candidate committees are some of the party’s most vulnerable incumbents and most promising challengers.

Federal candidates and officeholders were required to file their first-quarter campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission by midnight last night. As scores of races across the country heat up for competitive contests, here is a snapshot of campaign finance findings regarding a handful of hot races, based on a Center for Responsive Politics review of reports filed with the FEC.

As Congress debated comprehensive health care reform, health industry interests’ campaign contributions tended to target Blue Dog Democrats who opposed the proposal. Blue Dog Democrats who last week voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590), which first passed the Senate in December, received an average of about $90,200 during 2009 from political action committees and individuals associated with the health sector and health insurers, the Center for Responsive Politics has found.

One of the lawmakers President Barack Obama’s executive order won over was Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), who led a bipartisan fight in November to include stricter anti-abortion language in the House’s version of the health reform legislation. By the Center for Responsive Politics’ tally, Stupak is the only Democratic incumbent in the House to receive any money from special interest groups that oppose abortion so far this election cycle — with a $500 contribution coming from the Right to Life of Michigan PAC.

President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats achieved a major legislative victory last night as members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted to adopt the version of health insurance reform legislation passed in December by the U.S. Senate. Supporters of both measures received out-sized support from labor unions, the Center for
Responsive Politics found, based on an examination of contributions to lawmakers’
campaign committees and leadership PACs going back to 1989.

As Democrats try not to let political turbulence slim their ranks and Republicans focus on winning back the majority, money continues to pour into campaign coffers. Big-money congressional races are often in competitive states or districts that could wind up flipping for Republican or Democratic, a Center for Responsive Politics review of campaign finance reports through the end of 2009 shows.

HEY, DOG! Sorry for the terrible attempt at slang, but that’s what the Blue Dogs, the fiscally Conservative coalition of Democrats, must be saying to their three new members: Representatives Scott Murphy (D-N.Y.), Betsy Markey (D-Colo.) and Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.).

Democratic incumbents in the U.S. House of Representatives that their party views as potentially vulnerable raised an average of $842,400 since January, while Republican incumbents in the House viewed as potentially threatened raised an average of $597,300, the Center for Responsive Politics has found. Furthermore, these Democratic lawmakers ended the third quarter with an average of $646,000 in cash on hand, while these Republican congressmen ended the quarter with an average of $434,300.

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